fthomas

Robbers attack two bicyclists in Nesbit Park
By Clay Bailey (Contact)
Thursday, January 24, 2008

Bartlett police have charged two adults and eight juveniles with the aggravated robbery of two bicyclists in Nesbit Park on Monday.

Riding a bike in Memphis, TN is akin to putting your life into the hands of someone with a big truck and giant mirrors who wants to see how close they can get and bottles thrown at you from school buses - no it wasn't the driver and getting mugged by some gang bangers.

Hope they throw the books at them and lock them up. Unfortunately, they will just come out better educated criminals. Maybe if they denied them drivers licenses when they get out they could ride a bike around.

Schwinnrider

Some Tennesseean needs to shoot and kill the next strongarm robber.

fthomas

Maybe we need a new advocacy group to encourage bicyclist to be well armed with something other than a pump - air vs 12 gauageWe have criminals mugging cyclist for their bikes in S Ca

Rex G

Memphis has been known as a very dangerous place for some time now, among those who pay attention to crime statistics.

fthomas

My best friend in Memphis just retired from the Police Department after 25 years and is now with a PD in a suburb. I got an email from a friend of mine and a lady he worked with had been murdered and leaves behind a 16 and 8 year old daughter. My buddy tells me that murder in Memphis is almost a twice a day deal. A lot of crime is black on black and is drug or gang related. I believe it has a great deal to do with the welfare state and lack of work ethics and employment opportunities.

Memphis is one the most dangerous cities in the US and is probably far worse than the one that is at number one because of the size difference - Memphis having a far lower population.

I have family there and miss my grandson a lot, but don't think I can live there - happily.

DynamicD74

Having grown up in Memphis in the 70's, but having left in the early 90's, this is always sad for me to hear about Memphis, but I do know it's true. Check out A&E's 48 Hours show. Most of the places where they are, except in the North Memphis/Frazier area, are areas that I grew up around, such as the Whitehaven area, and I went to nursing school downtown at St. Joseph Hospital, which isn't even there anymore. St. Jude has long since taken over that property. And, yes, I learned quite a bit about gangs and violence when I worked in Memphis. Memphis has always had an edge, but it's amazingly different, and apparently, more dangerous than it used to be. I still have friends and family who live there, and they confirm that they try to stay out of Memphis city, and stay in the suburbs to the east and south. I still have a soft spot in my heart for Memphis, but admittedly living there would scare me these days. I suppose it's like most bigger cities....Detroit comes to mind....as the city has gotten bigger, and suburban sprawl has increased, violence and crime seem to sky rocket.

one_beatnik

This is all good to know. My daughter was just looking at a job in Memphis. This may affect her decisions if she gets offered the position.

Elkhound

I'm considering getting pepper spray; it is legal here. (Tazers are not.)

Hobartlemagne 

Just get a concealed handgun permit for WV and if you are mugged, it will be the last time
that mugger will mess with anyone.

richardmasoner

"Stanky Creek Bike Park"??? Wow, what a name for a park.

jyossarian

Stanky Creek Bike Park - That is the greatest park name I've heard today.

vote robotlican

I was home on vacation in Rochester, MN (oddly enough, I was living in Dayton, Ohio at the time, which is a far worse city as far as crime stats go... Rochester has been a fixture on money magazine's "best places to live" list for years). My brother, John, and I got "mugged" by a carload of drunk kids (quotations because of extreme ineptitude that will be outlined shortly) when we were on a night ride two summers ago... We'd crossed the main drag and were detouring around our usual route home. in the course of this, we'd pulled into a neighborhood made into a dead end by the construction. John, being faster than me, had pulled about a half-block ahead, so they pulled between us and jammed the brakes on to stop me (20/20 hindsight question, as I didn't ask the officers who responded: is this grounds for assault charges?). Two dudes jumped out, one jumped in my face and told me to give up the cash (I had none) or get hit, the other one went towards my brother and sort of hovered between us (maybe to stop him from potentially bum-rushing the car with his u-lock or something).

Apparently, the guy shaking me down was the only one who had the grapes to actually do any mugging, and he made a crucial mistake. I have a habit of using the cheapest, least flashy phone possible because I usually manage to chip paint and scratch them pretty soon after getting them. So, after examining the contents of my pockets and wallet (keys, jacked-up old cellphone, old receipts, soggy stick of gum, etc.) he determines that I have nothing of value to him and walks away to have a word with my brother, without taking my phone.

So, I call 911. The driver, an exceedingly fat girl, has pulled forward to put the car in between John and me, exposing the license plate. She notices that I'm on the phone and yells something about getting out of there and speeds off (into the dead end!), the dude "covering" John doesn't quite make it into the car and almost gets dragged, then they cut a u-turn and do about 50 out of the neighborhood with no lights on. The cops show up, take a statement and get contact information, and I picked the guy who was in my face out of a photo lineup like a month later.

Rochester has a 60 mile trail system that goes along the river and through a number of parks... A couple of my friends have been jumped on the trail section that runs through downtown. Usually it's a crowd of dudes who ask if you want to buy drugs, then beat you up and rob you if you decline. My friend took a beating and had his tallbike thrown in the river last summer. Fortunately, I haven't had any problems in that part of town... Usually people get hurt when they get mugged there.

b_young

I have a coworker who grew up in Memphis say he went back this past weekend and driving through his old neighborhood there was a police car with its lights on and someone pulled over or being talked to on EVERY block for 2 miles.

Memphis is bad for biking, walking, driving....

Lamplight

I have to say, I probably would not bike in Memphis. I live just south of Nashville and in my town I hear sirens at least once every 10-20 minutes. And I don't think our crime rate holds a candle to Memphis.

CastIron

It's rare for me to go a week on my way home without some aspiring thuglet suggesting I should donate my worldly goods to his cause. Ride fast, ride strong, and ALWAYS fight when cornered.

Vote: to answer your question, you weren't assaulted. The quick stop meets the express statutory definition of Careless Driving, a traffic offense. The whole incident is pretty much a Simple Robbery.

DynamicD74

That sounds like the Whitehaven or Graceland area of Memphis. It has REALLY changed!

DynamicD74

I've lived in Nashville, too and worked in an inner city area. I think you're right....Nashville is a safer city than Memphis. I wouldn't have any problem walking around downtown Nashville, but I would definitely have a problem walking around downtown Memphis, even with all it's touristy type stuff. For example, Beale Street itself is relatively safe. There are cops at every intersection, and it's pedestrian only traffic. But, get a block or two off Beale Street, and that's another story.

DynamicD74

And, if your daughter moves there, she will definitely want to move out East, in the suburbs, Collierville or Germantown, but not Cordova. The last I heard Memphis was trying to annex Cordova, and that would put the kids in the Memphis City School system....you don't want that. A lot of people are moving to the next county over, which is Fayette County or across the state line into North Mississippi, Desoto County or Olive Branch, MS. Their school system gets rave reviews. Olive Branch is closer to Germantown, TN, which is a pricey but great area of town. Stay away from Southaven (that's where I grew up). It's too close to Whitehaven/Memphis, TN. Hope this helps!

whatsmyname

I agree with what you're saying about the welfare state - Tennessee has long been known as a center of social democratic politics, luxurious state housing, subsidized transportation, and a ridiculously high minimum wage. I mean, it's practically Sweden.

Things would improve quickly if more of these kids were shot dead, like a couple of the above posters suggest. Obviously the problem with Memphis at the moment is that not enough people are dying violently.

DynamicD74

Nah, that's not it. There are lots of violent deaths in Memphis, and that doesn't seem to be helping the situation at all.

Elkhound

I've never fired a gun in my life. I should also add that I'm 6'1", 240 lbs. and have a brown belt in Kempo, so I think I can take care of myself in all but the most extreme situations.

fthomas

A Memphis Police Lt. was murdered in his own home two nights ago. The murder rate in Memphis is climbing everyday and the average citizen is at a far greater risk. Crime in Shelby County has spread from the inner city to the suburbs. It is hardly safe to drive a car there, let alone ride a bike.

If you notice someone in Memphis that has their turn signal on and never turns, well it was probably on when they bought the car and don't know how to turn it off.

b_young

I talked to him today about it. He said that it wasn't just in the Whitehaven area any more it was all of Memphis. He is still a bit upset and saddened by it. He looks at it and is thankful he joined the Navy, instead of being another drug dealer or dead by now he is making a good living in the Nuke Power world. His words. He gets a bit depressed when he goes back to visit though.

whatsmyname

Yeah, sorry, I was being deeply sarcastic.

Memphis was the first place in the US I saw (non-cop) people showing each other handguns. It was in a parking lot downtown and the two guys looked like fairly well-dressed (suit and tie) lawyers. Then they jumped into their expensive SUVs and drove home.

fthomas

They did annex Cordova and the crime has gone sky high. Not riding a bike, I took my grandson to one of his favorite places - Bass Pro Shop. On the way back we were approaching the left turn lane onto Dexter and an old beat up pickup shot across three lanes of traffic in front of me. I didn't honk, yell or make any obscene gestures - just blinked my lights once. As we made the turn the guy in the small S10 type pickup slammed on his breaks - threw it in reverse and tried to hit me. I have a large pickup with a shell so I couldn't back up because of traffic behind me. This Buba jumped out of his pickup and started back. I put on my brights and whipped a can of "Bear Mace" - big can carried when fly fishing in California, New Mexico and Alaska. I swung the door open and popped the safety latch and yelled at the guy to stop or I would hose him down. He asked: "Do you have a gun?" I yelled at him that he had better hope so!

He decided that he didn't want any more of me and took off.

Oh, I have more stories, but not appropriate for a bicycle thread. The one above wasn't either I guess.